Biology subjects

Thattai, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Thattai, M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Algorithmic biosynthesis of eukaryotic glycans

An algorithm converts inputs to corresponding unique outputs through a sequence of actions. Algorithms are used as metaphors for complex biological processes such as organismal development. Here we make this metaphor rigorous for glycan biosynthesis. Glycans are branched sugar oligomers that are attached to cell-surface proteins and convey cellular identity. Eukaryotic O-glycans are synthesized by collections of enzymes in Golgi compartments. A compartment can stochastically convert a single input oligomer to a heterogeneous set of possible output oligomers; yet a given type of protein is invariably associated with a narrow and reproducible glycan oligomer profile. Here we resolve this paradox by borrowing from the theory of algorithmic self-assembly. We rigorously enumerate the sources of glycan microheterogeneity: incomplete oligomers via early exit from the reaction compartment; tandem repeat oligomers via runaway reactions; and competing oligomer fates via divergent reactions. We demonstrate how to diagnose and eliminate each of these, thereby obtaining \"algorithmic compartments\" that convert inputs to corresponding unique outputs. Given an input and a target output we either prove that the output cannot be algorithmically synthesized from the input, or explicitly construct an ordered series of algorithmic compartments that achieves this synthesis. Our theoretical analysis allows us to infer the causes of non-algorithmic microheterogeneity and species-specific diversity in real glycan datasets.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Small GTPases and BAR domain proteins regulate branched actin to make clathrin and dynamin independent endocytic vesicles

Numerous endocytic pathways operate simultaneously at the cell surface. Here we focus on the molecular machinery involved in the generation of endocytic vesicles of the clathrin and dynamin-independent CLIC/GEEC (CG) pathway. This pathway internalises many GPI-anchored proteins and a large fraction of the fluid-phase in different cell types. We developed a real-time TIRF assay using pH-sensitive GFP-GPI to identify nascent CG endocytic sites. The temporal profile of known CG pathway modulators showed that ARF1/GBF1 (GTPase/GEF pair) and CDC42 (RhoGTPase) are recruited sequentially to CG endocytic sites, [~]60s and [~]9s prior to scission. Using a limited RNAi screen, we found several BAR domain proteins affecting CG endocytosis and focused on IRSp53 and PICK1 that have interactions with CDC42 and ARF1 respectively. IRSp53, an I-BAR domain containing protein, was recruited to the plasma membrane at the site of forming CG endocytic vesicles and in its absence, nascent endocytic CLICs, did not form. The requirement for actin polymerization in the CG pathway suggested a role for nucleators of actin polymerization, and ARP2/3 was found enriched at the site of the forming endocytic vesicle. PICK1, a BAR domain containing protein and the ARP2/3 inhibitor is recruited at an early stage along with ARP2/3, but is removed from the endocytic site coincident with CDC42 recruitment and a burst of Factin polymerization. This study provides a spatio-temporal understanding of the molecular machinery necessary to build a CG endocytic vesicle.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Molecular Noise Accelerates Cell Division And Death Under Antibiotic Treatment

It is well known that microbial cell populations can exhibit sustained exponential growth. More surprising is the fact that at high antibiotic levels, cell populations exhibit sustained exponential decay over several orders of magnitude. The boundary between growth and decay occurs at the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the antibiotic, where the density of living cells remains constant over time. These observations suggest that positive (growth) or negative (decay) exponents arise as a difference of cell division and death rates obeying first-order kinetics. Thus for antibiotic concentrations below MIC, division dominates; for concentrations above MIC, death dominates; while MIC itself is a dynamic steady state of balanced division and death, rather than cell stasis. To measure these rates we separately tracked living and dead cells in Escherichia coli populations treated with the ribosome-targeting antibiotic kanamycin. We found that cells divide rapidly even at MIC: inferred division and death rates at MIC are 0.6 times the antibiotic-free division rate. A stochastic model of cells as collections of self-replicating units we term \"widgets\" reproduces both steady-state and transient features of our experiments, and explains first-order exponential kinetics. In this model cell division and death rates at MIC can be tuned from low to high values by amplifying molecular noise in the synthesis, degradation and partitioning of the widgets. At extremely low noise, cells approach the classic bacteriostatic limit at MIC: neither dividing nor dying. Noise-induced division and death of cells following antibiotic treatment could increase the likelihood of sepsis and antibiotic resistance.

microbiology↗